Mimesis Online First Impressions

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We take a hands-on look at Tannhauser Gate's unusual, dark and intriguing post-cataclysmic online world.

By John 'Valandil' Keeler

Mimesis Online is a new science fiction-based online world that represents the uncompromising creative vision of Tannhauser Gate, a small, independent developer located in Wroclaw, Poland. Its co-founders, Artur Jaskolski, Marcin Baryski and Waldek Strzelczyk, had previously come up with a concept for a futuristic 3D animated feature film called Exodus. However, when the trio attempted to move ahead and produce the project, they discovered that it would be too costly compared to the level of funding they were able to secure. Not wanting simply to abandon the idea, they then shifted their sights to another medium that seemed suited to their knowledge and abilities, the Internet. After approximately three years of development, their dedication and their efforts were rewarded when the game entered commercial service in mid-January of this year.

The setting in which the game takes place is the land of Gotrath, the dark and twisted product of a great cataclysm referred to as The Day of Rage that violently warped together a number of very disparate worlds. The skies are often masked in thick green cloud cover, and the land below seems to ache with great claw formations wrenching up through its barren surface. The majority of Earth's flora and fauna did not survive the calamity, and the gameworld is a unique and intriguing one filled with unusual creatures, races, items and technologies. After putting in more than 20 hours of hands-on playing time with a single character as well as shorter amounts of time with different ones in order to get some other perspectives, we are pleased to offer our Mimesis Online First Impressions with some initial thoughts about this intriguing new online world.

Mysteriously cut off from the four neighboring nations, the Human and alien Hirudon denizens of Gotrath have formed an uneasy forced alliance as they strive to unlock the answers to the mysterious events surrounding their Central Lands. First and foremost of course, they must survive. Tannhauser Gate has created an intriguing and very unusual setting in which the gameworld as well as the creatures, races and items within it are presented in. a very dark, brutal and barren post-cataclysmic manner. According to Marketing Manager Piotr Krzywonosiuk, this dark atmosphere and unique vision are among the reasons the developer has declined deals with publishers thus far. Some of them have apparently cited the world as just "too dark and gloomy," and even demanded that the underlying concept of fused worlds would need to be changed in order for any deal to take place.

To enter into the world of Gotrath, you must create a character. The process starts with race by choosing among the playable race/gender combinations that include male and female Humans and the alien Hirudons. Human characters are naturally high in Strength and Dexterity statistics which makes them a good choice for melee type characters, while the high Intellect and Perception of the alien Hirudons gives them great potential for mental Psionic powers. The next step allows you to alter the physical appearance of your character with a good number of customization options. Some of these available include selecting the color and style of hair, eyes and eyebrows for your character along with the ability to alter the shape of their head and face.

The final stage of character creation in Mimesis is the most important part, as you decide which attributes your character will advance in most frequently. The options for all characters are Strength, Dexterity, Condition, Perception, Intellect, Will and Charisma. Meters for each of these enable you to set how experience points will be allocated among them. You can distribute them fairly evenly for a well-rounded character, or choose to spend all your points in only a few areas in order to specialize in them. The higher the experience percentage meter for a given statistic, the more frequently that statistic will advance as you accumulate experience during gameplay. This is a one-time, irreversible process, so it is important to choose wisely. And while Mimesis Online does have a level system for characters, it currently only give a bonus to hit points, while attributes are the most significant indicators of your character's overall power and ability to perform skills.

Once you are in the world itself, movement of your character is accomplished solely by using the arrow keys on your keyboard. There are two available traveling speeds. One is a slow walk and the other is a faster, automatic run option that can be toggled by pressing your Caps Lock key. And while the automatic running ability is far superior to the slow walk option, you must compensate for about two or three extra steps after you have let off the arrow key to stop running, which can become somewhat bothersome when trying to move with accuracy. Turning your character is another action that involves some compensation. Turning while running is rather smooth, but when standing still, your avatar will only rotate in set increments, which can make for somewhat annoying and inexact positioning at times, especially during combat that involves constantly chasing around after a target.

The combat mode in Mimesis Online is initiated by equipping a weapon and by accessing the drop-down list of battle-related skills found on the right of the screen. Once you have selected the one that coincides with your weapon type, a numbered panel will appear adjacent to it. This shows the weapon attacks that are currently available for the associated skill. Beginning characters will have only one move per skill; additional ones are gained over time through repeated use.

Left clicking on a potential adversary while in combat mode automatically locks on, moves your character toward it and initiates a single attack when you are in range. After that, it is then up to you to keep clicking the target to continue swinging. In the top right corner of the screen is a color coded circular health meter that shows your hit points in red, physical fatigue level in yellow and mental fatigue level in blue. Medical supplies such as bandages and syringes can be purchased and used to heal while fighting. Over the course of combat you will gain some experience for each swing of your weapon on a creature, and then gain much more for defeating it.

One interesting feature of the game's interface is the way in which the player is informed of combat damage and the power of potential opponents. Instead of a numerical system for the former, this information appears in text form in the chat box on the lower left of the screen. For example, when fighting an Inim creature you might see "You hit Inim really hard," or "You are reeling from the Inim's last blow." To help assess the overall power of a possible enemy compared to your character, there is an Info Screen to the top right of the screen. Text messages are once again used; for example "It looks stronger than you, and "It looks like an even fight." And since there are no visible health meters on opponents, this Info Screen will also inform you of the health of your opponent during combat, with statements ranging from "slightly injured" to "dying."

The creatures found in Mimesis Online are very unique looking and have good graphical detail. The artificial intelligence so far is good but nothing very new to speak of. Some beasts are extremely aggressive, as is the case with the rather deadly Chromatoraptor, while on the other hand, the first inclination of the stork-like Geborogh is to run away if provoked. Although the fauna in Gotrath are very interesting and unique, simply finding some of them can literally take hours of exploration over vast and often barren terrain. At this time, the majority of the creatures only offer some of their body parts as loot. These can be sold in the cities for Cards, which is the currency of the world. Player killing is an available option, but since all items are retained upon death, there is no tangible benefit to doing so. Those who kill other players without being provoked receive negative fame and are then treated harshly by the fearsome city guards known as Sentinels.